What the Heart Wants
by LaLiLuLeLoH
Summary: Roxas starts a new life on Distiny Island, and Kairi is a girl who is waiting for the boy who made her a promise of his return but Kairi finds it hard to continue waiting.
1. A Nice Change of Scenery

Prelude: A Nice Change of scenery

How would any one feel to be moving to a new location, leaving their friends as well as any familiar settings behind them heading to an unfamiliar place? Whatever the feeling was Roxas was feeling that as he sat in his seat, 2b, looking out his window at the endless blue ocean, waving and tumbling upon itself. Music blasting in his earphones, while his mother sat beside him sleeping. Her excitement wearing her out Roxas tried to keep his mind blank with the volume of his music but nothing could help the butterflies that fluttered into his stomach. He was nervous but moving was something they had to do due to…complications.

_Complications…_ he thought to himself before he closed his eyes and leans back against his seat. His mother knew the whole story but wouldn't tell him for some reason. He didn't care though, he had to be a man and just support his mother's decision since his father was never around to support them. _Maybe that's why we moved_ he thought to himself, _to make sure he doesn't follow us_ it made sense but his mother wouldn't do that. He saw the pictures of his father and his mother together and they looked happy and when she made the decision to move she didn't seem to do out of hate for his father, which confused him.

He looked at his mother; the blonds head was tilted to the side with her eyes closed sleeping peacefully while Roxas sat nervously. She seemed excited when they were in the air port. She told him she was excited to land a job in the college on Destiny Island because Destiny Island Community College was one of the first colleges to branch out around the world. It was also came in second for graduation rates and first in test scores. It was impressive but that still didn't help him from getting nervous. He just had to go with the flow and be happy for his mom for landing the job.

His mind wondered back to his hometown. The place he was born and raised up until now.

Twilight Town…

His mind flashed with the sights of the streets and the sounds of the train on its tracks. The smiles of the lady that ran the collection shop, the seemingly endless calls of the people trying to encourage others to eat at the restaurants. The cheerful cries of kids playing tag or hide and go seek with their friends. The one thing he was going to miss though was his hide out. A abandoned storage room that only Roxas and his friends knew about. A place where Roxas and his friends would go hang out when they don't want to be found by their parents. They would stay there all day, they even spent the night in their hideout even though it gets cold at night it never stopped them from doing it.

Another thing Roxas was going to miss was the forest that was just outside Twilight Town. It was his favorite place only for one reason. He had his first kiss there with a girl he grew up with. Just like every first kiss, he found a opening and took the chance. Of course it paid off. After the kiss they dated for a bit and there was many more make out sessions in the forest but of course when he found out he was moving she decided to break it off. He was ok with it, but the first kiss with her always came back into his mind. Just like the old saying goes, "you never forget the first" oh well, it was a fun while it lasted.

The one regret he will always have is never exploring the old mansion that sat on the other side of the forest. Even though the gates where still locked he could of found a way through somehow. He thought about what could be inside the mansion, maybe something cool, or worth a lot of money. He pictured the mansion being huge on the inside and finding some pictures of the previous owners, or maybe some sort of medallion that belonged to beautiful women. He smiled and shook his head. He knew the people who lived in that mansion wouldn't leave anything that valuable, but thinking about it made him regret not checking it out any way. Again all he can say is, oh well…

Roxas closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. He might as well get some sleep since that was the only way he could think of doing to get rid of the butterflies in his stomach but no matter how long he closed his eyes, or how many times he tried he couldn't seem to get sleepy, or even yawn for that matter. He opens his eyes and let out a low sigh before looking back at the ocean, which was replaced by green grass, then houses. Looks like they arrived at their new home.

Destiny Island…

The air port was buzzing with activity, people coming and going dropping off their loved ones or picking them up. The people that got off the plan crowded around the luggage pick up, a large black conveyer belt that circled around in a large O shape making it easier for the people to pick up their luggage. Roxas and his mom stood side by side waiting for their luggage. Roxas looked around the air port and felt out of place. The people here looked like they where familiar with this place known as Destiny Island. It felt weird to be in a place he didn't know existed. He still had that "new home" feeling in his stomach before as well, but he didn't complain about it, he was only 16 and therefore didn't have a choice. _No use complaining about it _he thought to himself. He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of luggage being dropped down the chute and into the conveyor belt. The Conveyer circled at a fast enough speed that prevented the bags from stacking on top of each other making it easy for the owner to find his or hers luggage.

Just as the luggage began to drop Roxas heard a excited yell. It caught the attention of his mother, and when they turned around to see who it was, her smile brightened "Leanne!" his mother exclaimed as she opened her arms to the women and embraced her. Roxas looked at the women with a confused look on his face. He remembered hearing that name before but never got around to asking who she was.

"it's been to long!" the women said as she steps back taking in a glance of his mom, "wow you haven't changed a bit!" she said sounding surprised, "if I didn't know any better I would of thought you were still in high school." His mother laughed.

"Aw you always know just what to say." She joked. The two laughed simultaneously before they hugged each other once again. Roxas just stood by and watched the scene. When the two stepped back again the women known as Leanne saw Roxas and smiled at him.

"And this must be Roxas." She said as walked past his mom and stood in front of Roxas, "wow you've gotten so big the last time I saw you." She said as she placed her hand on top of his head and smiled, "I remember you when you where just this big. She said as she rocked her hands back and forth, gesturing a cradle. If that was the case then he didn't have to feel bad that he didn't remember her. The women giggled and smiled brightly, "you probably don't know me. So I'll introduce myself." She said before she cleared her throat, "I'm Leanne, one of your mom's first friends, and her best one at that." The women acted younger then she really was, but you wouldn't know it by the way she looked. Roxas couldn't tell if she was older than his mom or younger.

"Nice to meet you." He said as he shook her hand and added, "…again" she smiled and looked at his mom.

"Wow such manners." She said before adding, "Does he get that from his father?" there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, it kind of surprised him that she knew his father as well. His mom just nodded with a smile on her face.

"So, you and my mom where friends back in high school huh." Roxas asked.

"We where the best." She said before she stood next to his mom and smirked, "not only that, we were the most hottest in the bunch. Ever one wanted us. Both the girls laughed while Roxas stared at them.

"That's…" Roxas started before he finished, "a little disturbing to hear." The two finished laughing when suddenly Leanne looked at his mom.

"Oh I almost forgot!" she said, her eyes widen, "I've been dying to show you what my husband got me!" she said

"You mean he actually buys you things." His mom teased. Leanne hits his mom's arm gently and giggles.

"Shut up and come on." She says as she starts walking away, his mom right behind her.

"Oh Roxas can you please get our bags?" She asked, "Hayner will help you."

"Hayner?"

"He's in the bathroom but he'll meet up with you here." Leanne said before she waved, "See you at the car." With that said the two friends continued walking, going through the exit and not looking back. Roxas turned his attention back to the Luggage and waited for theirs to show up.

Five minutes passed by and Roxas was still waiting for the Luggage. Finally he saw one of his moms, a small blue back with pink lining on the edges of the back; it was followed by Roxas' bag, a grey bag with black pockets. He quickly grabbed them and placed them on the ground and grabbed the remaining two. He dreaded the thought of trying to carry the four bags. Just when he was getting ready to attempt it someone walked up beside him.

"Hey, you Roxas?" the male asked. Roxas stood up and looked at the male. His blond hair was spiked up, exposing his brown eyes. He wore a black sleeveless shirt with a green vest over it, the green vest matching the army camouflage pants.

"Yeah that's me." Roxas said.

"Alright cool." He said before bent down and picked up two of Roxas' bags and smiled a littler nervously, "sorry about the wait man, I ran into a little bit of trouble."

"Your mom said you where in the restroom." Roxas started as he picked up the other two bags, "what kind of problems did you have?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"On Hine sight I'd rather not know."

Hayner laughed and started heading for the door after he placed the shoulder straps on him. They walked side to side carrying the two bags. Hayner was a little bit taller than him, but Roxas blamed the hair for the height difference. Roxas didn't know where the car was parked but it looked like Hayner did so he followed his lead, "is this your first time in DI?"

"DI?"

"Destiny Island man." Hayner said with a chuckle.

"Of course." Roxas said before he laughed sheepishly, "This is actually the first time I've even heard of this place really." He answered. When they got outside the airport Roxas took a good look around. Even though this was a different place to him, it all seemed the same. There where cars coming and going. Other then the unfamiliar sights, and smells, this place seemed like his old home.

"Don't look so disappointed Roxas." Hayner said with a chuckle, "there is actually a lot to do on this island. You just have to know where to look.

"That's a relief." Roxas said before he smiled, "The first thing I thought was going to happen was me dying of boredom." He joked. Hayner chuckled.

"Like I said all you have to do is know where to look." Hayne said with slight smirk.

They continued walking reaching a parking garage while Roxas told him the things he would do for fun when he lived in Twilight town. He also told him about the good times he would have with his two week girlfriend in the forest, it was nothing sexual of course. Roxas didn't know why he was talking about the past to a person he just met. Maybe it was just to avoid awkward silence to the car.

Hayner pushed the button to the elevator and waited for it to stop on their floor. While they waited Hayner looked at the new comer. To him, Roxas looked like a cool guy, the type of guy that wouldn't take things seriously unless the situation called for it. the way he talked and joked around reminded him about his own friends and he knew he would get along with them. They both waited for a minute before Hayner seceded to talk, "hey what are you doing later?" he asked. He got a weird look from Roxas, "I'm not trying to ask you on a date man."

"I wasn't hoping." Roxas responded back. Hayner shook his head and waited for Roxas to answer. Roxas thought for a minute before he answered, "I'm probably going to be busy unpacking my stuff." He then added, "and then I have to help my mom get the furniture from the storage department." He shrugged his shoulders, "I think I'm going to be busy for the rest of the day." Hayner shook his head and almost looked disappointed.

"I see." Hayner said before he shrugged his shoulders, "oh well, if you finish unpacking early we should hang out." He said before adding, "There are some people I want you to meet."

"Friends of yours I'm guessing?" Roxas asked, even though he knew the answer. Hayner nodded his head.

"Yup, I'm sure you'll get along with everyone there." He said before he added, "And these people always have something to do, so you won't have to die of boredom." Roxas looked at Hayner as he spoke and already sounded interested but he had things to do, things that will most likely take all day to finish.

"What are you guys going to be doing?" Roxas asked.

"We're going to play soccer by the beach." Hayner answered. Roxas looked at Hayner for a moment.

"soccer?" Roxas asked before adding, "I've never played soccer before."

"it's easy to learn." Hayner encouraged then added, "Though, our style of soccer is a little…" he paused for a moment before he chuckled, "well the best I can describe it is 'intense'." Roxas chuckled. He has never played soccer but he knew soccer wasn't that 'intense'.

The elevator doors opened with a _ding _and in walked Hayner and Roxas, "too bad I can't join you guys." Roxas said. Hayner just laughed and nodded his head in agreement.

"yeah, I can see you're really heartbroken Roxas." Hayner joked as the doors closed.

It didn't take long for Hayner and Roxas to catch up with their moms. The boys packed the bags in the back of the car Roxas' mom was renting while the ladies continued to talk. Roxas and Hayner continued talking for a moment sharing their own laughs. The sun was already setting when Roxas and Hayner, along with their moms decided it was time to go. Leanne left first while Roxas and his mom sat in the car for a moment, his mom talking to some big shot from the college. The conversation was short and when she placed the phone down she smiled at Roxas.

"I see you made a new friend." She said, the smile on her face showing how glad she was for him, "I knew you would get along with Hayner, I heard he acts just like Leanne." She added. Roxas chuckled, he should have known his meeting with Hayner was all some sort of elaborate scheme between the two mothers. He just wondered who else she was friends with here in DI.

"He's quite the character." Roxas responded with a chuckle. His mom smiled as she pulled the car out of the parking spot and headed for the exit, "So, did he invite you to hang out?" Roxas looked at his mom for a bit before he returned his gaze back to the road. He was trying to get used to the sights and sounds of the island since he was going to live here for now on.

"Yeah he invited me to a game of soccer with some of his friends." Roxas responded. They drove out into a freeway, giving Roxas a clear view of the ocean which glowed a orange color reflecting the setting sun and the sandy beach that waves crashed on. He could see people packing up their towels and picking up their trash. He saw others still surfing, some doing well, and some falling off their boards.

"Are you going to join them?" she asked as she looked at her son, who was still looking out at the beach nearby. Roxas didn't answer for a moment; instead he looked ahead when he noticed the change of speed. She took a exit and slowed her speed down to thirty five, stopping at a light at the bottom.

"I was." Roxas resounded as he took in the sights again. This time it seemed they were in town. Cars drove in the appropriate lanes heading to their own destination. There where restaurants and fast food places to his left and right. He could even see grocery stores off in the distance with gas stations nearby.

"What's stopping you?" she asked looking at Roxas as she waited for the light to turn green.

"I have to unpack my stuff, then I have to help you bring in the furniture." He said before adding, "besides I don't want to leave you alone in our new home."

"Aw Roxas!" his mom said as she scuffled his hair, "you're such a sweet kid! But you don't have to worry about me." She said adding afterwards, "the furniture is already at the house and Leanne will be there with me. So you don't have to worry about me." Roxas looked at his mother with a confused look on his face his mother smiled and knew he was going to ask her how the furniture was at the house already, "I paid an extra hundred dollars for some movers to go to the house and set up the living room, along with our rooms." She pressed on the gas the moment the light turned green. She turned into town and smiled at Roxas, "just wait until you see it Roxas." She said sounding excited the closer they got to their new home.

After going through town and taking a exit, they reached a road that led uphill. They passed through a small neighborhood and there stood a two floor house on top of a hill, "There it is." She said with the biggest smile on her face, the biggest Roxas has ever seen. They parked in the drive way and got out of the car. Roxas took two of the bags while his mom got the others. She opened the door with the keys Leanne gave her and they walked inside, "here we are Roxas." His mom said with excitement in her voice. She turned on the light and smiled, "our new home. Roxas walked inside and sat the bags down and looked around. the rug that laid across the floor was a dark reddish color which matched the walls, and the three piece couch seat that sat together forming a curved L Shape, sitting across the couches was the fifty seven inch flat screen sitting on top of a glass entertainment set with the dish modem and blue ray sitting next to it. Roxas was surprised by how well the place looked and already starting liking the room. His mom somehow sensed this and suddenly said, "if you think this is cool you should check out your room." She said as she closed the door. Roxas looked at her for a moment before he made his way towards the stairs, "it's the second door on the right." She called out before she smiled and explored the first Floor.

When he found his room and walked in, he turned on the lights and liked what he saw. His room was plain, with white walls, beige carpet. His bed was already assembled and made up with blue sheets and a dark blue blanket on his bed with a short bedside table and an alarm and a lamp sitting on top of it, a dresser, and of course a closet. His old guitar was leaning against the wall next to his dresser which he didn't mind since he didn't know where to put it, and he didn't play it much anymore. Roxas also had a skateboard which was leaning against the same wall his guitar was leaning on. In the middle of the floor sat two boxes full of Roxas' old things. He picked up the boxes and placed it on his bed and emptied the box and laid them down on his bed. In the boxes he found pictures of him and his friends hanging out in the old hideout, he found another picture of him and his ex-girlfriend sitting next to each other with smiles on their faces, his old skateboarding trophy, and some keepsakes some of his friends made for him two weeks before he moved. After looking at the contents of the boxes he decided to redecorate his room a bit. He placed both the pictures on his dresser, and puts the trophy between them, he hung the skateboard on the wall by taking off the wheels and placed two hooks against the board holding it still, he placed the keepsakes in the nightstand cabinet, and to finish his 'redecorating' he placed the two boxes in his closet. He looked at his room from the doorway and was satisfied with what he saw and turned off the light, closing the door behind him.

Roxas walked down the stairs and heard his mom laughing while another voice continued to talk, when he reached the kitchen he saw Leanne there laughing along before looking at Roxas, "oh hey Roxas." She greeted with a warm smile, "I thought you were going to meet up with Hayner at Beach Park."

"Actually I was just heading there right now." Roxas said before looking at his mom and adding, "Since we got done with the unpacking so soon." His mom just smiled along with Leanne.

"You know the way right Roxas?" Leanne asked, Roxas shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

"Not really, but if I get lost it'll be a good way to check out the neighborhood." He told them before he turned around and walked towards the door, "I'll see you later mom." He called out.

"Bye Hun." She called back just before Roxas opened the door, closing it soon after.

The weather was cool and warm with a slight hint of wind blowing against Roxas carrying the smell of salt, most likely coming from the beach. Roxas walked along the dirt path the sound of dirt crunching under each step became the dominate sound around him, while his mind wondered around. The dirt path soon turned into concrete. He found himself in a nice little neighborhood. The mixture of sounds being carried in the wind reminded him of Twilight Town. He looked around the scene seeing people walk in their homes and seeing kids playing outside with their toys or friends. He then found himself at a four way street causing him to stop and look at all three ways. He blinked and chuckled shaking his head, "shit." He didn't really know how to get to the park, and he didn't know anyone around this neighborhood to even ask directions. He decided just to pick a random direction and hoped he picked the right direction.

"You look lost." Someone suddenly said from behind him. When he turned around he saw a red head girl walking towards him, her hands behind her back, her blue eyes looking straight at him. Roxas blinked and swallowed a bit, he wasn't usually this nervous around girls, maybe it was because he was just in a new place.

"Yeah, I'm a little lost." Roxas responded back while rubbing the back of his head, "I'm looking for a park near a beach." The young girl looked at him for a moment before she smiled.

"You're new here aren't you?" She asked, though sounding like she knew. Roxas could only nod and chuckle softly. She smiled and stepped closer to Roxas, "well the park is that way." She pointed towards the opposite direction where he was planning on going, "just follow the path and you're bound to reach it, no problem." She said before smiling at him. Roxas looked at that direction before looking back at the red head and smiled back at her.

"thanks." He paused for a moment and waited for her to tell him her name, one of his supposed 'tricks' according to his friends back at Twilight Town.

"Kairi." She introduced before smiling and adding, "and it's ok." She paused the same way he did.

"Roxas." He said and smiled at her. She giggled and looks nods her head towards the park.

"You better go before you're late." She said. Roxas looked at that direction and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you around." he said. All she did was nod her head and give him a little wave before she turned around and walked off towards a house with three other girls sitting on the porch. He watched the red head, Kairi, walk away before he turned towards the direction she gave him and decided he better hurry.

The red head was right, he followed the path and sure enough the park was straight ahead. There sat two large toys with the mixture of slides, monkey bars, and sliding poles. The other was smaller version with two slides and a tunnel connecting both the slides, there were two sets of swings near both toys and a jungle gym. Further down from the playground was a large green field, with a small group of guys playing soccer. Roxas stood in place for a moment and looked at the group of males trying to see if he can see Hayner. Once he did he made his way towards the group. He felt a little nervous, he was meeting people he never met before but this was how he was going to make friends.

He reached the field and stood on the outside lines, watching them play. He saw Hayner moving his way towards the goal only to be cut off by another with long silver hair. He tried to steal the ball from Hayner but he pulled the ball back and spun around the silver haired male and continued his advance towards the goal. The silver haired male continued his chase for Hayner and managed to catch up and again tried to steal the ball via slide tackle. Hayner again, pulled the ball back and kicked the ball upwards with his back leg before kicking it again towards another blond. The other blond had his hair sit flat against his head and hung a little ways past his ears. This blond caught the ball with his chest and kicked the ball before it hit the ground aiming for the goal that sat behind him. The goalkeeper, a chubby brunette, who had his hair style the same way as Hayner, wearing a bandana and a jersey stood ready and saw the quick kick and jumped to the side stretching as far as he could and catching the ball in his hands before rolling on the ground and holds up the ball as if he was saying, "nice try." Hayner shook his head and placed his hands behind his head while the other fell to his knees. The silver haired ran up to pence and pats his shoulders, "awesome save Pence." He said which only made him chuckle and shrug his shoulders.

"I saw it coming." He joked as he looked at the blond, who glared back at him.

"That sounds like a challenge." He said as he got up to his feet.

"You think you're up for it Tidus?" Pence asked before he chuckled and tossed the ball at Tidus, who caught it and chuckled as well pointing at Pence before dropping the ball.

"You're getting little too brave Pence." He joked and laughed after wards. Pence chuckled and noticed off the corner of his eyes someone standing on the sidelines of the field. He looked at that direction and stared at the newcomer.

"Who's that?" Pence asked not really aiming his question at any one in the group. They all looked at Pence before looking at the direction he was looking at. They all looked at the new blond with confused look on their faces, all except Hayner who smiled and walked towards Roxas.

"You made it!" Hayner called out towards him. Roxas silently shrugged his shoulders.

"We got finished early." Roxas called back.

"What are you doing standing on the side lines man?" Hayner called out before gesturing for Roxas to join them while saying, "come on, I'll introduce you to the guys." Roxas nodded his head and walked towards the group who where all looking at him. He hated being the center of attention but played it off like he didn't mind that all eyes were on him.

Roxas stood in front of Hayner while the others walked towards them to join in the conversation, and maybe to see what Roxas was all about. Hayner just smiled and pats Roxas' shoulders, "Nice to see you can join us man." Hayner said Roxas just smiled nodded. Hayner looked at the other males, "this is Roxas." He said before looking back at Roxas, "Roxas, these are my friends…" he paused for a moment and pointed at each one giving them their own introduction.

"What's up guys?" Roxas asked giving them a nod of his head. The others did the same thing and remained silent for a moment.

"We're just playing some soccer Roxas." Tidus said as took the ball from Pence and spun it in his palms, "you up for a game?" Roxas stayed quiet for a moment, he has never played soccer before and didn't know the rules except he couldn't use his hands.

"I'm up for something new" Roxas said, not wanting to sound like a spoil sport. Tidus just smiled and tossed the ball at Roxas, who caught it.

"Perfect, you're with Hayner." Tidus said before walked back to the area of play. Hayner smiled and pats Roxas' back.

"I hope you didn't think I was lying when I said it was going to be intense." Hayner said with a smile and walked to join the others, Roxas following close behind.

The group surrounded Roxas, who lay on the grass breathing heavily, "is he ok?" Tidus asked.

"I thought you were in shape Roxas?" Hayner joked. Roxas looked at Hayner and wanted to tell him to back off, but was too tired to even say a word. He waited until he was somewhat in control of his breathing before he spoke.

"I don't recall Soccer being like that." He said which made every one laugh.

"Told you didn't I?" Hayner said with a choir of laughter following after his sentence. Roxas closed his eyes and joined in before he opened his eyes and saw a hand extended towards him.

"At least you didn't quit until the end." Riku said sounding impressed. Roxas chuckled and took his hand and stood up with his help. He dusted himself off and looked at the group who laughed.

"Damn Roxas, you look like hell." Tidus said before he added, "you might want to take a rest for a day or two." He joked. Roxas joined in the laughter.

"I'll be fine, just give me a couple days and I'll be on the same level as you guys." Roxas said putting his hands in his pockets and trying to sound confident despite how tired he was. Tidus just smiled and lightly punched Roxas' arm.

"Can't wait to see that day." Tidus said with a chuckle.

The group spent the rest of the day sitting around and relaxing on a picnic table. Roxas actually sat down on top of the table facing the beach while Hayner and Pence sat on both sides of him facing the same direction while Tidus and Wakka sat on the other side of the table. Riku was the only one standing up standing beside Pence. Roxas noticed he was being quiet and when he looked at him he noticed he was texting, "who you texting Riku?" he asked though knowing it wasn't none of his business.

"My girlfriend." Riku said not looking away from his phone.

"The same girlfriend from fifth grade?" Hayner asked, even though he already knew the answer. Riku gave him Hayner a look before he looked back at his phone and Hayner only chuckled.

"What is she saying Riku?" Tidus asked from his seat and smirked, "is she reminding you about your curfew?" Tidus then looked at his watched and faked a gasp, "oh no Riku, it's almost seven o'clock." The group laughed, even Riku laughed after his attempt to look mad failed.

"Don't listen to him Riku." Hayner said before adding, "it just sounds like he envies you because he can't seem to get a girlfriend."

"But didn't he date that one girl?" Pence asked, the smirk on his face showing he already knew the answer, "what was her name again Tidus?" Pence asked looking at him, snapping his fingers as if that was going to help him remember, even though he knew the name, "oh yeah! It was…"

"No! Stop right then pence." Tidus said raising his voice a little, "we made a pact not to talk about that." Tidus said with a serious face, changing into a smile afterwards.

"It all seemed like fair game to me." Roxas said deciding to join in the teasing, "you make fun of his current girl, so they make fun of your past." Hayner and pence chuckle but Tidus sighed.

"Man, and here I thought you would be my support." Tidus said pretending to be disappointed.

The day continued just like that, a few teasing about things in the past, even Roxas wasn't safe from the free for all. Even though he didn't know them as long as they knew each other he felt like he fit in just fine. Their sense of humor matched his own and made it that much easier to get along. When they decided it was time to go home, they invited him to another game of soccer, which he accepted without hesitation. He walked with the crew until they all split up, leaving only Roxas, Hayner, and Pence to continue talking. The three of them continued to talk for a moment long before Pence and Hayner took another road to their homes leaving Roxas alone with his thoughts.

Today was a good day, he made friends, found a new hobby, and now knows where the park is to join future games. He walked up the hill and saw his house sitting on top of a small hill. He stared at the house for a moment before he turned around and faced the neighborhood at the bottom of the hill he was standing on. The sun was setting hitting the ocean with its race turning the water into a blend of orange and red. The wind picked up a little but it didn't bother him much. As she stood there he thought to himself…

_A nice change of scenery…_


	2. Promise

Reveiw replies...(Skip if you just want to read the story.)

Foolish Heart masquerade: Hey, thanks for the review. I didn't think my descriptions where that good but because you brought that to my attention I re-read my story and was surprised thanks for bringing that to my attention lol.

Also the constructive criticism is much appreciated and I know my grammar is bad. I've always had that problem all my life but comparing how it was back then to what it is now, I am now a pro haha. I'm working on trying to make everything as perfect as I can for not only me but for everyone else that reads my stories.

I love two out of two stories I wrote on KH (I deleted my last one because I was ashamed of my work) where cute. Almost every review I had said something along the lines of "cute" or "aww!" haha but thanks for the review and I hope I don't disappoint.

Ymoccy: yeah I know! It has improved and it's thanks to you. To tell the truth if it wasn't for you showing me some of the mistakes and teaching me some of the grammar I probably would still be writing as bad as I was before. I'll always be writing, writing is my passion and nothing can stop passion. ^^

Warrior of six blades: thanks for the review! And you won't have to wonder any more since this is the new chap ^^ hope you enjoy.

Others: Please! If you have put this story under your favorites or alarms please review. I want to know why you liked this story so I can continue to be inspired to keep giving you what you want. R&R PLEASE!

explanation...(skip if you just want to read the story.)

Ok so let me explain why there are two prologues. I wanted the first one to be the first day Roxas go to Destiny Island and somewhere I there have a little bit of Kairi as she waited for her "true love" Sora. As I continued to write I thought maybe having Kairi have her own chapter will be a little more interesting to explain more on how she felt as she thought about Sora leaving. However I didn't want this to be chapter one because this chapter surrounds only Kairi's point of view that is why there are two prologues. I hope this doesn't bug people, if it does please don't let this be the reason you stopped reading.

And now out feature presentation….

Prologue: Promise

_Kairi stood alone on the getaway island where the crew would come to avoid their parents or to be alone. It was a great place to be alone, with the sea breeze constantly blowing tickling her nose with the faint smell of salt. She stood on the beach part of the island paying no mind to the tide soaking her shoes. The sun was setting beyond the horizon, casting different shades of pink, blue and purple in the sky. The silhouette of a cloud could be seen as it unconsciously floated in front of the sun. _

_Being alone on the island was a beautiful thing. People could never admire the sights and sounds of the island when they are with friends or other group of people, but Kairi would usually come to the island first so she could admire its beauty before she was distracted by her friends. _

_After Riku told her about Sora's plans to leave Destiny Island she felt her heart ache. She didn't want Sora to leave. She wanted him to stay and live the same normal life they've had for so long. She didn't want to imagine a life without Sora, to Kairi, there was no life without him in it. She needed to tell him that, she needed to tell him how she felt about him. She needed to tell him that she loved him. A smile crept on her face, "I love you." She whispered. Her smile only widens, but tears escaped her eyes regardless. She looked at the sand as more and more tears escaped her eyes and poured into the salty water crashing on the shore. She repeated the words over and over as if practicing to tell Sora silently hoping if she told him how she felt he would stay._

_I love you._

_I love you._

_I love you._

_She looked back at the setting sun and smiled she felt ready, she felt like she could tell Sora. She closed her eyes and was consumed by the sounds of the island, "Kairi." Someone suddenly said from the docks. She looked over at that direction and there stood Sora, with a worried look on his face. She smiled and quickly wiped her eyes._

_"Hey." She said, her voice cracked giving Sora a hint that she was crying. Sora jumped from the dock and walked towards her, ignoring the water as well. He put his hands on her shoulder and looked straight into her eyes. _

_"Are you ok?" he asked her obviously worried about her. She smiled and nodded her head. _

_"I'm…" she paused. She was far from fine, even further from ok, but if she didn't say any of those options Sora would be worried and she didn't want that. Instead she swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up at Sora. Her heart was pounding and her mind was screaming at her, "just do it!" but the butterflies in her stomach was saying something different, "I'm fine." She finally said with a smile on her face, a smile she tried so hard to fake. _

_"That's good." Sora said as he steps back from her._

_"yeah." She said before she looked down at sand. It drove her mad, just three simple words where so hard to say to the boy that stood in front of her. He needed to know how she felt, he needed to know without him her life would be empty. All that could be said with just three simple words, simple words, that where so hard to say. Kairi and Sora stood side by side looking at the sun set in silence. Kairi was trying to work up the nerve to tell him how she felt, while Sora stood silently enjoying her company, "when are you leaving?" she asked hoping by breaking the silence would help her tell him how she felt. Even though she hated to think about it, it was the only thing she could think of to break it._

_"I leave in the morning." Sora said keeping his gaze on the setting sun, which was almost completely gone. Kairi lowered her gaze, she already knew the answer and all it did was make her heart sink even more. _

_"I don't want you to go." She said, Sora looking at her direction after she spoke. Her head was down and he could see the glimmer of tears fall into the sand. Sora stared at her as she continued talking, "we just reunited Sora, why do you have to go? Why can't you stay?" _

_"Kairi." He said before he placed his hands on her shoulder," Goofy and Donold helped me find you and Riku, now I need to return a favor and help them find the king." She hesitated to look at Sora in the eyes, but once she believed she had enough nerve to do so she returned his gaze. They stared at each other for a moment before Sora placed his hand on her cheek. Kairi only smiled and closed her eyes while placing her own hand on top of his. _

_"When will you be back?" she asked. Sora didn't answer for a moment._

_"I don't know." He responded. It wasn't the answer she wanted to hear, "but I promise I'll return as soon as I can Kairi." Kairi opened her eyes and looked into his. She felt lost, in a good way, all that mattered was the two of them standing alone on the island._

_"you promise to come back?" she asked._

_"I promise." He answered, his thumb stroking her cheek, "I'll come back." Kairi closed her eyes again and suddenly felt Sora's arms wrap around her in a hug. She was caught off guard by the sudden embrace but didn't fight it, instead she smiled and returned the hug hoping the moment would last forever, but knowing full well it won't._

The alarm suddenly rang, waking Kairi up from her deep, sleep. She leaned over to her nightstand and turns off her alarm before sitting still on her bed. She yawned and stretched her arms out before letting her arms plop down. She was half awake and half asleep when she sat up from her bed and walked towards the bathroom for her morning shower. The bathroom steamed as Kairi stood in the shower looking at the floor blankly. Sora has been gone for two years, but it felt like he's been gone longer. Every night she went to sleep she would dream about him, she would dream about the times they've spent together, she dreamt about the times he almost kissed her, but the dream she would have the most was the day he left. Every time she had that dream she would wake up wishing she was still asleep. It was an empty feeling to know the only time she could see the person she loved was when she was sleeping. Taunting and teasing her with every dream. She closed her eyes and fought the urge to cry. It was like this every morning and she hated it. She felt like the loneliness was killing her even though she has her friends for support, only Sora could fill in the gap. She closed her eyes and almost gave up her fight against crying when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Kairi? Dear? Are you ok? Her mother asked, "You've been taking a shower for almost an hour and a half." Kairi wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to know she was about to cry.

"I'm fine." He called back, her voice cracking a bit.

"Ok dear." Her mother said. Kairi hoped the sound of running water disguised the state of weakness in her voice, "well Olette and Selphie are waiting for you down stairs."

"Tell them I'll be out in a minute." Kairi told her mom before she resumed her shower. Kairi lathered her hair with shampoo and rinsed it out, repeating the steps with the conditioner. Once she was done she stepped out and wrapped her naked body in a towel and brushed her teeth after words. Once she was finished she stepped out of the bathroom and into her room where she changed into her clothes.

Kairi pulled out her clothes and laid them down on her bed before he walked over to her stereo and turned it on playing her favorite CD. As the music played she took off her towel and began to dress herself. She wore a sleeveless light blue low cut shirt with a white shirt under it. Kairi never liked wearing low cuts unless she wears something under it. She also wore her favorite blue jeans which fit her perfectly, not too tight around her waist or butt but tight enough to turn heads (that's how Selphie described it), once she found her shoes she took a look at her outfit modeling to herself to make sure that was the outfit she wanted to wear, smiling with satisfaction when she liked what she saw.

Three knocks where heard on her room door followed by the door opening. Selphie and Olette, two of her closest friends, walked in her room both smiling at Kairi, "hey girl!" Selphie said as she walked up to Kairi and hugged her. Kairi smiled and hugged her back while Olette closed the door, "wow Kairi looking good." Selphie said checking out Kairi's outfit.

"Are you planning on meeting some one Kairi?" Olette asked with a playful tone in her voice.

"I'd be lying if I said no." Kairi said with a smile as she sat on her bed. Selphie and Olette smiled at Kairi and were about to ask her who the guy was but Kairi spoke first, "I just hope he shows up today to." The two girls looked at Kairi with confusion on their face. It wasn't until they realized she was talking about Sora when their smile faded slowly from their faces. Olette and Selphie looked at each other, Olette tilting her head towards Kairi, Selphie only nodded and cleared her throat, catching Kairi's attention the moment she did.

"Listen Kairi." Selphie started before she paused. She was looking for the right words without sounding negative. She sat down beside Kairi as she continued searching for the words. When she finally found them she continued to speak, "Olette and I have been talking, about the whole 'waiting for Sora thing' and we think…" Kairi looked back at the floor as Selphie continued to talk. She heard this talk before, when Sora absence reached the one year mark. They wanted Kairi to forget about Sora and just try to move on to someone new. They tried to hook her up with one of Riku's friends but when they went on the date they've spent most of the time eating their food instead of talking to get to know each other. It wasn't until Olette started talking when Kairi's attention was brought back to the conversation.

"We're not trying to be mean Kairi." Olette said before adding, "But you've been waiting for Sora for two years, how long are you going to wait before you move on?" The girls sat quietly as they waited for Kairi's answer.

"I don't know." Was the only thing Kairi said before the awkward silence took over once again. Olette and Selphie looked at each other again. Selphie knew Olette was wondering if they should continue the conversation just by the look on her face. Selphie looked at Kairi, then back at Olette and shook her head. Olette nodded silently in agreement. Kairi suddenly stood up and looked at the girls with a smile that they both knew was hard for her to fake.

"I'm going to the airport." Kairi said before adding, "You two want to accompany me?"

"Of course we'll accompany you." Selphie said as she stood up and took Kairi's arm smiling at her with her signature Selphie smile.

"We never said we wouldn't." Olette said as she took Kairi's other arm, "besides it's not like we have anything better to do then hang out with our friend as she waits for her true love." Kairi looked at both girls that hung on her arm smiling at them. She knew they didn't like how long she was waiting for Sora to return but they still wanted to go and wait with her.

"To the airport!" Selphie suddenly said as she pointed ahead of them.

"Onward!" Olette added before taking a step forward towards the exit of Kairi's room, Selphie following afterwards. Kairi watched as her two friends walked out and smiled. She had weird friends but she wouldn't replace them for the world.

The airport was normally empty around nine o'clock. The time it normally gets busy was in the afternoon. Kairi, Selphie, and Olette sat adjacent from each other staying quiet. The girls sat on a bench near the entrance of luggage pickup and close to the exit of the airport. The two girls yawned as they sat and stared at the empty airport for what seemed like hours. Olette and Selphie would start a conversation with each other while Kairi sat quietly as if she wasn't there. They would try to involve her with the conversation but she wouldn't talk long. Kairi would say a few words before she get completely oblivious of the conversation as she looked at the luggage pick up area.

As Kairi sat silently the memory of that day came into her mind once again, the day that Sora left. The image of Sora walking away was burned into her mind. She felt her heart drop and she bit her lower lip. She looked towards the waiting section, which sat inside the airport, and could see the image of Sora walking towards his plane. She felt the same heart ache and felt tears start to swell in her eyes. She quickly wiped her eyes and hoped Selphie or Olette saw her. As they waited the memory replayed in her head of the day Sora left to find the king and it hurt the same as it did that day.

The time was five o'clock in the afternoon, and the airport was busy. People walked to and fro from the luggage and the waiting area inside the airport. Kairi her friends remained seated on the same bench they've sat on for eight hours. The only time they have ever gotten up was to use the rest room or to get something to eat, in which Kairi would bring her food back to the bench in fear she will miss Sora if he came back. To Selphie and Olette that was a big if. Again the girls would talk amongst themselves and attempt to have Kairi to part take, again it ended in failure. It was nothing new to them since Kairi was always like this whenever she was in the airport. After an hour of sitting silently she finally got up, which caught both of the girls by surprise, "I'm going to use the rest room." Kairi spoke as she looked at the two girls, "if you see Sora can you tell him to wait for me?" she asked but at the same time sounding like she was pleading. Selphie nodded her head and gave her a smile of reinsurance. Kairi smiled back an head for the bathroom before she stopped and looked back at Selphie, "and please, Selphie, if he does show up can you not give him a hard time about his absence?" she asked.

"I won't Kairi." Selphie said before adding, "Now go before your bladder explodes." Kairi smiled and quickly turned around walking towards the bathroom. Selphie and Olette stared at Kairi as she walked away before looking at each other, both knowing exactly what the other was going to say.

"I'm Worried about Kairi." Olette spoke first, "I know it's not the first time she has stayed quiet during this little adventure, but the look on her eyes isn't…" she paused for a moment before adding, "Normal."

"She just wants Sora to return." Selphie explained as she kept her gaze on the rest room Kairi went to.

"I know." Olette said before staring at the spot, "but two years?"

"Kairi's in love." She said before looking at Olette, "Love makes us do crazy things."

"But two years Selphie?" Olette raised her voice but then gazed at the floor, "I think if Kairi keeps waiting, and Sora still doesn't show up…" she trailed off. She didn't want to finish that sentence or even think of how the sentence was going to end.

"Kairi is a strong girl." Selphie said smiling at Olette, "We just have to support her and she'll soon understand that two years of waiting for one person is long enough." She said trying to convince not only Olette but herself as well. Olette nodded with a hint of doubt on her face. Selphie kept the reinsuring smile until her gaze went back to the bathroom. Selphie hoped that Kairi would soon realize that moving on was a better choice for her, but even if she didn't it wouldn't mean Selphie or Olette won't be by her side to support her.

Kairi sat in the bathroom stall silently suffering alone. Tears swelled and ran down her cheeks and hitting the black and white tiled floor of the bathroom. She didn't need to use the bathroom, she just needed to leave that spot so her friends wouldn't see her cry. She sniffed and tried to cry silently so that the other girls using the rest room wouldn't notice. She missed Sora more then she has missed any one in her life. Her mind went back to the many opportunities she could have told him she loved him but every time she would back down or something would come up that she wouldn't get the chance. The thought of Sora never coming back hurt more than anything she has ever felt before. Her tears stopped falling and her cries where starting to settle down. She sniffled and tried her best to hide any evidence of her little episode. When she felt like she was ready she stood up and stepped out of the stall and stood in front of the mirror and looked at herself. Her cheeks where red and her eyes were still glossy from the tears she shed. She turned on the sink and cupped some water in her hands before slashing it on her face and wiped it off with a towel. She smeared some of her makeup but she managed to fix it. She gave herself a few extra minutes before she stepped out of the restroom and into the busy airport. She had the memory return to her and she felt a little pain but she managed to mask it with a smile to her friends, who smiled back at her.

The sun was starting to set outside of the airport. The Airport started to calm down with only a few people showing up now. Olette was leaning her head on Kairi's shoulder looking blankly at one direction while Selphie did the same. Kairi would normally wait until the last flight but decided it was time for them to go. Her friends have waited by her side for hours upon hours. She felt they deserved to do something fun with the remaining hours of sunlight, "Hey, Selphie, Olette, let's go home." Kairi finally said. Both girls quickly looked at Kairi like they just heard her speak in some foreign tongue.

"We're leaving already?" Olette asked, the expression on her face matching the surprise in her voice.

"Is that a problem?" Kairi asked. Both the girls shook their heads.

"No, but don't you normally wait until the last flight?" Selphie asked

"I think we've waited enough for today." Kairi said smiling at her, "let's go get something to eat and spend the rest of the time somewhere else." The two girls didn't argue, instead they got up and stretched their arms out before walking adjacent towards the exit of the airport, which held no sign of Sora's return once again.

The girls took two buses before they reached their spot in the neighborhood Olette lived in. Once Kairi left the airport she was Kairi again. She was talking more, joking more, and even laughing more. This was the Kairi Olette and Selphie remembered, loved, and cherished. Once they reached Olette's house they grabbed a quick bite to eat before sitting down on the front porch to continue their conversation. They were soon joined by Naminé, a girl that half of the neighborhood envied because of her relationship with Riku. Naminé was a cute, slender, short haired blond, who grew up with the three girls. Because of this there were never any secretes amongst them, the reason being they all knew each other too will for the other to even try.

The girls sat on the stares on the porch with two on the first step and the other two on the step closest to the door. They continued their previous conversation before switching it to Naminé's relationship with Riku. Even thought Naminé and Riku have dated for a long time it still made Naminé blush whenever anyone teased her about it. She was so innocent that it was sometimes hard not to take advantage of it.

"You can't say that even when you two are apart you still don't text each other." Olette said as she stared at Naminé.

"No we don't." Naminé said just before her phone beeped informing her of a new text message. Everyone looked at her phone before looking at Naminé with smiles on their faces, "not all the time." She said her cheeks turning red as she held the phone in her hand. The group laughed and watched as Naminé text Riku back.

"You know it's so cute that you and Riku talk to each other even when you're not together." Selphie said as she hugged Naminé, "sometimes I feel so jealous of you two."

"I know me too!" Olette added as she hugged Naminé as well smothering her with Selphie. Naminé looked at Kairi silently pleading for Kairi's help with her eyes. Kairi giggled and shrugged her shoulders and continued watching them smother the blond. The smothering lasted for another two minutes but the teasing continued for another five before the girls decided enough was enough and talked about something else. Suddenly Olette noticed some one standing on a side walk looking around as if he was lost. She didn't recognize the blond and continued staring at him trying to see if she could. When she couldn't she tapped Selphie's shoulder, "hey Selphie, do you know who that guy is?" she asked. The three other girls looked at Olette before looking at the lone blond who continued looking back and forth.

"I don't know." Selphie said.

"Poor guy, he looks lost." Naminé added before looking at Kairi, "why don't you go see if you can help him Kairi?" Kairi blinked and looked at Naminé.

"Why me?" Kairi asked.

"Why not?" She countered.

"I don't know him."

"So?" Naminé smiled and looked at the blond, "you could always use more friends." Olette and Selphie looked at each other and smiled showing they both had the same idea.

"Yeah Kairi, new friends are always fun to have." Olette said joining Naminé.

"And who knows, maybe that friendship will develop into something else." Selphie said in a way that made Kairi think this was some sort of conspiracy.

"I still don't see why I have to go." Kairi said as she looked at the other three girls.

"Then how about this." Olette said as she holds up her hand with sticks sticking out, "whoever gets the short stick goes and helps the blond." The three girls looked at Olette as she held her hand in a fist and waited to see who would pick the first stick. The girls just shrugged their shoulders and picked a stick before pulling it out. Kairi looked at her stick before looking back at Olette.

"Really?" Kairi asked looking at Olette like she's been set up. Olette just smiled and shrugged her shoulders innocently. Kairi smiled and shook her head. She knew something was up but decided just to go along with it, "alright then I'll be right back." Kairi said as she stood up giving the stick to Olette before she walked towards the seemingly lost blond.

"You set her up didn't you?" Selphie asked as soon as Kairi walked far out of earshot. Olette Smiled and held Kairi's stick as well as her own stick close together showing that all the sticks where short.

"Yup!" she said with a smile on her face.

"You're bad Olette." Selphie giggled along with Naminé.

Kairi walked casually towards the lost blond. She still felt set up by her friends, but she couldn't just ignore someone who needed help. She placed her hands behind her back and continued her stride towards him. The closer she got the more she could hear him talking to himself, "You look lost." Kairi said from behind him. When the blond turned around and saw Kairi walking towards him he looked slightly nervous. She stopped a couple feet ahead of him and smiled at him, trying to make him feel a little less nervous.

"Yeah, I'm a little lost." The blond told her while rubbing the back of his head, "I'm looking for a park near a beach." Kairi looked at the blond for a moment before she smiled.

"You're new here aren't you?" Kairi asked even though she already knew the answer to the question before the blond could answer. Kairi smiled and stepped closer to him. "Well the park is that way." She pointed towards the direction of the park, "just follow the path and you're bound to reach it, no problem." She said before smiling at him. The blond looked at that direction before looking back at Kairi smiled back at her with a relieved smile.

"Thanks…" He paused for a moment. Kairi looked at the blond for a moment.

"Kairi." She introduced before smiling and adding, "And it's ok…" She paused the same way he did.

"Roxas." He said and smiled at her. Kairi giggled slightly.

"Well, Roxas, you better go before you're late." She said. Roxas looked at that direction and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you around." he said. All Kairi did was nod her head and give him a little wave before she turned around and walked off towards Olette's house. She paused for a moment and looked behind her seeing the blond continue running towards the direction she told him to go. There was something familiar about that guy, she just met the guy but he reminded her so much of Sora. She smiled a little and shook her head before she continued walking. She just met that guy and already she was comparing him to Sora. It was a habit her friends said she needed to break.

She walked back and joined the girls on the porch. As she walked back she could see all three girls staring at her with smirks on their faces which only made Kairi's suspicious of being set up even less farfetched. The moment she took her seat with the rest of the girls she could feel all their eyes on her. She pretended she didn't notice until she met their gaze with her own, "what?" Kairi asked but had a pretty good idea why they were staying quiet and looking at her.

"So?" Olette asked.

"So? What?" Kairi asked as she continued to act like she had no clue.

"Did you get his name?" Olette asked.

"Why would I ask for his name?"Kairi asked faking a confused look on her face, "All I did was give him direction."

"You where talking to him too long to _just_ be giving him directions Kairi." Selphie said before she placed her hands on Kairi's shoulders and shook Kairi, "Please! Please tell me you at least got his number." Again, Kairi just stared at the three girls who looked back at her with a shared anxious expression on their faces as they waited for her to answer. This just brought a smile to her face as she shrugged innocently.

"It must have slipped my mind." Kairi said. The girls let out a sigh of disappointment simultaneously.

"Sometimes I wonder about you Kairi." Selphie said as she shook her head unafraid to show her disappointment. All Kairi could do was smile, she knew Olette rigged the game so that Kairi would lose and have to go talk to the blond. She also knew the reason they did this was because they wanted her to meet someone. It was a good plan but the only flaw was Kairi didn't want to meet any one new she just talked to the blond to help him find his way. Even though it was messed up to set Kairi up like that she couldn't get mad. She was guilty of rigging some games so that her friends would have to talk to guys.

How do you think Naminé and Riku started dating?

"I'm just amazed I lost the game so fast." Kairi said before she looked Olette and added, "Can you believe that?" Olette looked back and Kairi and just giggled. She knew she was caught just by the look Kairi gave her.

"It must have been bad luck." Olette said as an excuse.

"Major bad luck." Kairi added before she giggled along with Olette. Kairi couldn't get mad, it was her friends. They just tried to help Kairi do what they believed was best for her.

As the night rolled on the girls started to get tired and one by one they started taking off towards their homes until Kairi and Olette where the only ones remaining on Olette's porch. The two girls talked for a good half hour before Olette was called inside for dinner. The girls exchanged hugs before Kairi walked off towards her home, leaving only her and her thoughts. She found herself thinking of Sora once again. She thought about how he would walk her home every night allowing them to continue talking. She remembered how they would walk slowly so that it would take longer for Kairi to get home, which she didn't mind.

She wondered if she would be able to spend time like that again with Sora. She hoped if she could, she prayed she could. By the time she reached her home she noticed the lights where off which obviously meant her parents where asleep. Kairi pulled out her keys and opened the door into a dark living room. She closed the door behind her and locked it before she blindly walked towards her room and reached it with no problem. She turned on the lights to her room and closed the door behind her. She stood still for a moment before deciding it was time to sleep. She changed into her nightgown and laid down on her bed. Sleep sounded a like a good plan but she was afraid. She didn't want to have that dream of Sora leaving again. She didn't want the only time she could be with Sora was in her dreams. Kairi slowly drifted to sleep despite her fears. As she slowly fell asleep she could hear Sora's voice saying…

_I promise…._


	3. Something has to change

_Something has to change_… 

Roxas slowly opened his eyes and all he could see was blurry red light. He blinked and managed to recognize the blur as his alarm clock. He turned away from the light, laying now on his back, and rubbed his eyes before looking at the clock again. "Seven?" he complained before rolling over, "Why am I awake at seven?" He closed his eyes and attempted to go back to sleep but was quickly interrupted by his phone ringing. "You can't be serious..." he groaned as he blindly reached for his phone. "Hello?" Roxas said in a low groggy voice.

"Why are you still asleep?" It was Hayner.

"What do you mean 'why am I still asleep'?" Roxas was a little annoyed, "It's seven in the morning, Hayner."

"I thought you wanted to play soccer with us?" Hayner questioned.

"Well yeah, but at seven in the morning?" Roxas yawned and rubbed his eyes again. He was up for a game anytime, but this was the first time his friends wanted to play soccer this early in the morning.

"Come on man, just because it's summer doesn't mean you have to sleep past noon every day," Hayner said. Roxas forced himself into a sitting position and stretched.

"Fine, fine," Roxas started, "I don't think I could fall back asleep now anyways." Hayner chuckled and said to meet them at the park in an hour before hanging up.

Roxas jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes. He could shower and fix his hair after the game. Roxas wore some black shorts and a white sleeveless shirt, along with the white soccer cleats that Wakka let him borrow. Roxas hadn't gotten around to getting his own pair yet. After he was all dressed he walked out of his room and toward the kitchen, where his mom was cooking breakfast.

"Oh, good morning Roxas," she said smiling her usual smile.

"Hey mom," Roxas replied with a yawn before opening the refrigerator looking for something to drink.

"You're up early," His mom said, keeping her eyes on the eggs she was cooking.

"The guys invited me to a game," He said, yawning again.

"This early?" She raised her eyebrow at her son.

"That's what I said." Roxas shrugged and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He also grabbed a small breakfast bar before heading out toward the park. "Later, Mom."

"You don't want anything to eat before you go?" his mom called just as Roxas opened the door.

"No thanks, the breakfast bar should last me until lunch." Roxas said back.

"If you say so dear, have fun with your friends."

The early morning breeze gave Roxas chills, but he tried to enjoy it knowing that it would be hot after a game of soccer. Roxas could see the ocean now, the sunlight shimmering on the surface. He couldn't remember the last time he saw the sunrise, or heard the sound of the birds in the morning. He only lived on the Island for a week and already he was experiencing something new almost every day. The faint smell of salt tickled Roxas' nose as he headed down the trail leading him away from his neighborhood, toward the park. In a few short minutes, he arrived at the park to find two people sitting at a picnic table. At first glance Roxas didn't know who they were, but then he saw that one of them had red spiky hair, and the other had messy blond hair.

"Wakka! Tidus!" Roxas called out as he approached his friends, "You guys are here early."

"The earlier the better, ya?" Wakka said, getting up to stretch.

"This is too early, if you ask me," Roxas said as he joined in on the stretching.

"It's never too early for soccer Roxas," Tidus stated, as energetic as if he had been awake for hours. Roxas silently disagreed and continued his stretches. Once they were done they decided to kick the ball around while they waited for the others to arrive.

"You've gotten better," Tidus said, grabbing the ball from when it rolled in front of him.

"Impressive, ya?" Wakka agreed.

"You think so?" Roxas asked surprised that the tricks he thought were simple actually impressed these two, "good enough to be on your league." Roxas joked of course.

"Don't know." Tidus said before looking at Wakka, "What do you think Wakka?"

"I don't know." Wakka said, placing his hand on his chin, "why don't we find out by placing a wager on today's game ya?" 

"I'm up for it." Roxas said sounding as confident the he could. 

"Alright, how about…" Wakka paused for a moment before snapping his fingers once he got an idea, "The loser buys lunch ya?" 

"Lunch?" Roxas said a little confused. Usually the bet would be some money, or an embarrassing deed but lunch? Roxas shrugged his shoulders before extending his hand. "Sure, Lunch is always better when someone else pays for it." Roxas said with a chuckle. 

"Then I'll be sure to enjoy it Roxas." Wakka responded back as he shook his head chuckling as well. 

"Awesome, looks like lunch won't be an issue today." Someone said from behind Roxas. When he turned around he saw Hayner, Pence, and Riku walking towards them. 

"What do you mean won't be an issue?" Roxas asked. Hayner only chuckled before kicking the ball up and into his hands. 

"You'll see later." Hayner said before walking past Roxas and towards the field, "For now, let's play some soccer guys!" 

~K~

Kairi woke up feeling the effects of a hurting heart the moment she regained consciousness. She held back tears as her memory forced her to remember the dream of Sora leaving to find someone for his friends. No matter how many times she told herself he promised to return the pain wouldn't go away. She needed him her to mend her broken heart since he was the only one that could and knowing that only made Kairi feel even more powerless. 

Despite her powerless feeling she managed to stop herself from crying. She sat on her bed and pulled her legs to her chest how long until she can stop feeling like this? The pain of not having someone she loved near her was tearing her heart apart but there was nothing she could do about it, not until he returns…if he returns, "Sora…" she whimpered and nearly lost her composure when suddenly she heard someone knock on her bedroom door. 

"Kairi?" Selphie called before slowly opening the door, "Don't tell me you're still asleep girl." she said when she saw Kairi still in bed. 

"I-I was." she said as she wiped her eyes pretending to being waking up when in reality she was wiping away the tears that fell from her cheek, "What's up Selph?" Selphie stared at Kairi for a moment. As she stood near the door, She wasn't dumb she knew just by the small crack in her voice that she was crying, or was about to and she was pretty sure what the reason was. However, because Selphie wanted to support her best friend she decided to talk about this some other time. 

"We're supposed to meet at Naminè remember?" Selphie said with a smile. Kairi looked at the clock, which read 9:00. The plan was to meet at Naminè house at 9:30 so that they can leave together. Kairi got out of bed and walked towards her closet to pick out an outfit and bathing suit while Selphie sat down on Kairi's unmade up bed watching her. 

Selphie wanted to talk to Kairi about Sora but what good would that do? She's been trying to talk her out of it for two years but here she is still waiting for him. Because of him Kairi is suffering alone when she doesn't have to. It was kind of hard to watch Kairi like this even with her back turned to her she could tell Kairi was hurting and there was nothing she could do. Kind of made Selphie hate the guy. 

After what seemed like an eternity of applying make-up and getting the right outfit for the day the two girls finally begin their short journey towards Naminè's house. Along the way the two girls stayed quiet letting the sounds of the waking neighborhood wash over them. Kairi usually wasn't one for quiet walks but for some reason she just wasn't up for a conversation. He gaze never once taken off the side walk she was walking on and despite Selphie's attempts to start a conversation with Kairi, she would only return her gaze back to the ground. 

Their trip towards Naminè's house felt longer than it should but once they reached it they saw Naminè and Olette sitting out on the porch talking. Olette wore a yellow and red stripe shirt with white shorts and blue flip flops while Naminè wore her favorite white shirt white shorts. White was Naminè's color even if some people don't consider it a color. When the girls spotted Kairi and Selphie Olette jumped to her feet and waved, "You girls ready for swimming!" Olette exclaimed with so much excitement even Selphie told her to calm down.

"Swimming?" Kairi asked in a rather confused tone, with a facial expression to match.

"Yeah, swimming" Selphie said as she looked at Kairi, "every Friday we get with the boys at the island and swim." She explained before she sighed finally realizing why Kairi looked so confused, "you forgot today was Friday didn't you?" Kairi paused for a moment as she looked at the faces of her three friends before finally answering.

"Y-yes." She replied which caused all the girls to sigh.

"How can you forget today was Friday?" Olette asked.

"Monday I would understand, but Friday?" Naminè added.

"I swear you have better track of the days if your mind wasn't on how long Sora's been gone." Selphie said before gasping and covering her mouth as if trying to catch the words before Kairi heard them, but she did. Kairi hung her head low and looked at the ground while Naminè and Olette silently scalded Selphie, while Selphie gave herself a punishment and hit herself in the head while calling herself an idiot.

"Forget about what Selphie said." Naminè said as she wrapped her arm around Kairi's shoulders, "Let's just go to the island and have some fun!"

"Yeah! Swimming fixes everything!" Olette added, "It's scientifically proven!"

"But…"

"Hey! No buts! No buts are allowed today." Selphie said suddenly as she came up behind Kairi and wrapped her arm around her neck and rested her head on her shoulder, "Today is a 'be happy and smile' day, which means no buts!" Kairi stared at Selphie for a moment before a small smile crept on her lips.

"But I didn't bring a bathing suit." Kairi said once she was allowed to finish her sentence. The three girls simultaneously and hung their heads.

"Oh wait!" Naminè suddenly said, "I have extra bathing suits in my room that I'm sure Kairi would look good in!"

"And we can help her pick the best one!" Selphie quickly added.

"It would be like a one person bikini fashion show! And Kairi is the model" Olette said, making Kairi feel a little awkward about the idea but before she could say anything she found herself being pushed into Naminè's house, and into her room.

At first picking the "right" bathing suit was fun, but after a while it just seemed like a tedious task. Whenever Kairi would step out and "model" her bathing suit one of the girls would like it but the other two wouldn't and whenever all three girls liked the bathing suit Kairi wouldn't like it and take it off to try a new one on.

As Kairi got dressed in her next bathing suit the three girls sat and waited. Olette was laying down on Naminè's bed looking at the ceiling while Naminè and Selphie sat beside her resting their chin on their hands.

"We could be swimming already!" Olette complained.

"Whose idea was this to find Kairi the perfect bathing suit?" Naminè asked sarcastically as she stared at Selphie.

"Hey, you two went along with it so no point blaming it on me." Selphie said before silence fell upon the three girls. Olette sighed and silently complained about not swimming at the moment while the other two kept to themselves.

"We should just say she looks perfect in this one." Selphie suggested, "I mean it's not like she's trying impress anyone right?"

"She's made that clear." Naminè said before agreeing to the idea.

The three girls waited for a moment when they suddenly heard a knock on the door, two seconds later Kairi walks in with a towel around her body, her cheeks as red as her hair. The three girls watched as Kairi took off the towel and their eyes went wide.

"Whoa, Kairi."

"Hubba hubba."

"I don't remember that bathing suit." Naminè thought to herself.

The bathing suit Kairi was wearing is a white two piece bathing suit, sitting on one side of the top was a outline of a black rose with glitter filling in the side of the rose while the other black rose sat in the middle of the bottom with vines, which were glitter, ran out to the sides. Not only was the design pretty but the way the bathing suit hugged Kairi's body made her seem hotter. Even though she didn't really want any boys attention she sure was going to get it if she wore that bathing suit.

"Too much?" Kairi asked shyly when the silence became uncomfortable.

"No! Of course not!" Selphie said before looking at the other two girls and nodded her head; the other two nodded as well, "it is decided." Selphie said before adding, "We LOVE it!"

"Now the most important question." Naminè suddenly said before asking, "Do you like it?" as they waited for the answer the three girls stared at Kairi. Kairi smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah, I love it too." She finally said which caused the three girls to jump to their feet.

"Alright! Let's go swimming!" Olette declared.

The four girls walked out of Naminè's house and walked towards the island side by side talking, laughing, and teasing Naminè about Riku of course. Teasing her about Riku never got old, and they will keep doing it until she stops getting so embarrassed.

Their trip to the docks meant they had to walk past the park which none of the girls had a problem with but for different reasons. Selphie, Olette, and Kairi just like to watch the boys do their tricks during the game, while Naminè likes to watch Riku play without his shirt and no matter how many times she says she doesn't that is the main reason.

As the girls approached the park, Kairi found herself talking and laughing more than she did in the last couple of years, maybe being alone was the problem. It was hard to be depressed and quiet with her crazy friends nearby. This was exactly what she needed to forget about her aching heart. When they stepped onto the field of the park all eyes were on Naminè to see if she was staring at Riku, who was playing with his shirt off, but it turned out she was looking at someone else.

"Hey girls, do the guys know someone we don't" Naminè asked.

"No, we've met all their friends I think." Olette answered though didn't sound too sure.

"Well then, who's that blond guy?" Naminè said as she pointed at the soccer field. At first they were going to say it was Tidus until the girls got closer and realized it was someone they didn't recognized.

As they watched the blond had passion of the ball and was sprinting down the field but was being chased by a very fast Wakka. When Wakka passed him and stood in front of him to block the blond slowed down a bit before kicking the ball between Wakka's legs, spun around Wakka and continued his sprint towards the goal. The motion was so fluent and fast it made Wakka stumble on himself when he realized what had happened and tried to run to catch up to him. The girls were surprised to see such a trick and even more surprised to see Wakka tricked. Nothing like that has ever happened to Wakka unless he was guarding Tidus.

The blond continued his sprint for a short while before passing it to his teammate Hayner who was being guarded by Riku. Hayner planned his move carefully before sprinting past Riku, but Riku was on him and attempted a slide tackle to steal the ball. Hayner saw Riku's lunge and quickly grabbed the ball with his feet and jumped over Riku's feet keeping a good grip on the ball before letting it go once he landed and kicked it to the blond.

"Got it!" the blond yelled as he got the ball and kicked the ball towards the goal, guarded by Pence who quickly dove to the right and caught the ball in his hands denying the hard earned goal Hayner and the blond tried for, "Crap!" The blond said as he fell to his knees and ran his hands through his hair, "you're getting too good for your own good Pence." he said as he looked at him. Pence just shrugged his shoulders with a 'what can I say' look on his face.

The girls looked at each other, "isn't that the boy that Kairi helped a couple days ago?" Naminè asked looking at Olette.

"Yeah, but what was his name?" Olette asked before looking at Selphie. As the others talked Kairi kept her gaze on the blond. The last thing she expected was to see him hanging out with people she knew.

"Roxas?" Kairi whispered in surprise.

"Let's go meet him." Olette suddenly said snapping Kairi's mind out of whatever state it was in. She watched as her friends walked towards the field before following them, she felt a little awkward about meeting the blond again but she knew she couldn't avoid it, especially since he was hanging out with Riku, one of her childhood friends.

When they reached the sidelines of the soccer field the girls waited for one of the boys to notice them. When that plan seemed to fail Selphie decided to take action, "ooh Riku!" Selphie called out, getting the attention of not only Riku but the others as well, "will you be so kind as to come here for a second?" she asked sweetly, almost too sweetly. Riku jogged towards the girls while the others stood around kicking the ball around. 

As Riku jogged towards them the girls gave Naminè a quick look and saw she was looking at his muscular body. It wasn't surprising, all the girls had to stare, and Naminè just paid extra attention. 

"What's up?" Riku asked, staring at the girls waiting for one of them to tell him why they called him out of the game. 

"Well, first, mind putting on a shirt before Naminè drools all over herself?" Selphie asked only to receive a light punch on her shoulder from Naminè. 

"Selphie!" she complained, her face beet red from embarrassment." Riku just chuckled and jogged over to the table behind them and grabbed his shirt, putting it on before returning. 

"Better?" he asked. 

"Yeah better." Selphie said before adding, "Naminè doesn't think so though." she joked, receiving another punch from a red faced Naminè. Riku couldn't help but chuckle, his girlfriend was cute when she got embarrassed like this. 

"So what's up?" Riku asked as he looked at the four girls standing in front of him. 

"Oh you know; we just wanted to chat." Selphie started before adding, "And to find out who the new guy is." she said as she pointed to the blond. 

"The new guy?" Riku questioned before he realized who she was talking about, "oh you mean Roxas?" 

"So that was him name." Olette whispered to Naminè. 

"I wonder if Kairi already knew that." Naminè whispered back. 

"Kairi wouldn't keep something like that from us, would she?" 

"Any way." Riku said interrupting the small whisper circle, "I'm guessing you girls want to meet him?" 

"If he's not to busy." Selphie answered with a giggle. 

The guys where kicking the ball around and doing tricks waiting for Riku to return to finish their game. Roxas was bouncing the ball with his knees before kicking it over to pence. Roxas took a quick glimpse over to Riku and saw he was still talking to the girls. Out of the four girls, he recognized two of them.  
The short blond with the red cheeks was Naminè, Riku's girlfriend, the only reason he knew this was because he saw a picture on Riku's cell phone. The other Red head was the girl that helped him find the park, however he forgot her name, as he was sure she forgot his. 

"Roxas." someone called when he looked he saw Riku waving his hands, "come here I want you to meet some... 

"Roxas!" pence yelled. Seconds later Roxas felt something hit the side of his face and found himself on the ground looking at the sky with a stinging sensation on his cheek. 

"Ouch." Riku said before jogging his way to a downed Roxas along with everyone else. 

"You ok dude?" Tidus asked kneeling down beside Roxas. 

"Been better." he answered before sitting up, his hand rubbing his cheek. When he looked around everyone looked worried, which made him feel a little uncomfortable, "but I'm good, just a little dizzy." he said before chuckling nervously. He hated being the center of attention. Roxas was helped up by Riku and dusted himself off before staring at four girls standing behind Riku,"So, who are they?" he asked. 

"Well." Riku started before looking at the four who stood side by side, "the cute blond is Naminè, my girl." 

"Hi." she greeted with the friendliest smile Roxas as ever seen. 

"The two brunettes are Olette, and Selphie." Riku continued. 

"Hiya!" Selphie greeted 

"Pleasure to meet you Roxas." Olette greeted. Olette seemed...a little too polite, and Selphie seemed loud. How these two became friends Roxas would never know but he didn't say anything. 

"Last but not least..." Riku started when suddenly the name of the red head finally came back to him. 

"Kairi!" Roxas blurted out when he finally remembered her name, surprising every one, except Selphie who looked at Kairi with a smirk. 

"You've met Kairi?" Tidus asked as he looked back and forth between Kairi and Roxas. 

"I...um..." Roxas stuttered for bit before managing to form a sentence together, "I almost got lost on my way here, but thanks to Kairi I found my way with no problem." he started before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I guess you can say I owe her a debt of gratitude." he said as he looked at Kairi before looking at the grass. 

"A debt of gratitude huh." Selphie repeated before she giggled and added, "Is that how you ask girls out where you come from?" 

"Wh-what?" Roxas and Kairi said at the same time before looking at each other and quickly looking away. 

"Th-that wasn't what I..." Roxas trailed off. 

"Selphie!" Naminè said as she hits her arm, "that wasn't nice." Selphie giggled lightly and lightly slapped her own hand. 

"Bad Selphie, bad." she said before giggling again. 

"Hey! Are we going to finish this game or what?" Wakka said. 

"Hold up." Riku replied before looking back at the girls, "we're going to finish up here, we'll meet you girls at the island, alright?" 

"why don't we wait?" Selphie suggested, "I mean how long as it been since we all went to the island together, as a group?" 

"Well..." Riku said as he thought about the idea, "the game is almost over, if you girls want to wait until then." 

"Good idea." Naminè said with a smile on her face, "it's been a while since we've seen you guys play." 

"Alright then." Riku said before looking at Roxas and taps his arm, "let's finish this game Roxy." 

"Again with that nickname." Roxas complained as he followed Riku to continue the game. 

"Roxy?" Olette repeated before she giggled, "cute." Kairi couldn't help but silently giggle, it was a cute nickname. 

The game continued while the girls sat together on a nearby bench watching the boys play their game of soccer. Even though the game was lasting longer then they thought it would they didn't seem to mind at all. The game was getting so intense that Olette and Naminè started cheering. Olette was cheering for Hayner while Naminè was cheering for Riku, "looks like they're having fun." Selphie said as she looked at the two girls before looking at Kairi who smiled and nodded in agreement. 

"For once you're not the loud one." Kairi joked receiving a mocked chuckle from Selphie before she looked back at the field. 

"If that's the case." Selphie said before standing up and yelled, "Go Wakka!" it caught the others by surprise but they quickly got to their feet and cheered for their respected players. Kairi sat and watched giggling at the spectacle they were making of themselves. The three girls cheered for a while when suddenly Naminè stopped and noticed Kairi wasn't joining them. 

"Why are you just sitting there Kairi?" Naminè asked, "Why don't you join us?" 

"I'm ok." Kairi said with a smile on her face, "I'm not much of a cheerleader like you three." She joked. 

"You don't have to be a cheerleader to cheer Kairi." Olette said, "It's not like we have pom-poms and a cute outfit." 

"Come on, join us Kairi." Naminè said with an innocent smile and added, "There is a cute blond who doesn't have any one cheering for him yet." Kairi sighed; somehow she knew Naminè was going to say something like that. 

"Why can't I just cheer for Riku? Or Hayner? maybe Wakka?" Kairi asked. 

"Because we called debs on them already." Olette said with a victorious smile on her face, "Besides, it's not like we're telling you to date the guy, just cheer for him while he plays and entertains us." 

"He's been here for only a week Kairi." Naminè said the moment Olette stopped talking, "don't you want him to feel welcomed into our little group?" Kairi looked at the two girls for a moment before sighing in defeat. 

"I hate it when you guys do that." Kairi said before standing up and looked at the blond, while the two girls gave each other a silent high five for their victory. Kairi stood silent for a moment waiting for the right moment to start cheering for the blond she didn't know well, or at all. 

When Hayner passed the ball to Roxas she chocked for a moment before finally saying, "Go Roxas! You can outsmart Riku! No Problem!" the moment the words left her words she felt the eyes of her friends right on her, at the same time she noticed the two goalies, Pence and Tidus, looking at Kairi. The only eyes she didn't see on her were that of the players on the field. She felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment and she slowly gazed at the grass under her feet. 

"That was good." Olette said before adding, "For someone who was so reluctant to cheer for the guy." All Kairi could do was smile sheepishly before returning her gaze back to the field. She had to admit cheering for a certain player did make the game more interesting than just watching. 

The girls continued to cheer for their players until the final goal was made ending the game with a 2-1 score benefitting Riku and Wakka. When the guys met up with the girls Naminè rewarded Riku with a kiss while Wakka got a pat on the back by Selphie, "Great game guys." Olette said with a smile on her face, "I've never been that entertained for a while." Kairi and the others nodded, it has been a while since she has seen her friends play their version of soccer and she was glad she stayed to witness such talent from her friends. 

"I'm actually surprise Roxas kept up with you guys." Selphie said causing Kairi to look at Roxas, who was rubbing the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. There was something familiar about the way Roxas acts. His smile, his attitude, even the way he holds and presents himself. It was almost a spitting image of him. When Kairi realized that Roxas was staring back at her she quickly looked away, her cheeks slightly red from being caught staring. 

"Well, it's about that time." Tidus said as she stretched his arms and legs, "How about we head to the island for some cool down time?" 

"Yeah!" Olette agreed before pointing towards the island, "Onward!" she added excitedly. The group then walked side by side merging their conversation into on. It was no surprise that with the group now all together there was more smart remarks, sarcastic jokes, and teasing, but mostly on Naminè. However no one took offence and laughed. Roxas found himself a little taken back. This group of friends may have been bigger than the ones back at Twilight but they acted so much alike. It was heart breaking. 

"I believe it's Roxas' treat." Someone said snapping Roxas out of his "missing my old friends" moment, 

"Remember? You and Wakka had a bet." 

"Oh yeah, right." Roxas said as he rubs the back of his head, "I almost forgot." Before splitting up with the group Roxas wrote down a list of everything they wanted for their day on the island. The list wasn't long, mostly small snakes but it seemed they were mostly concerned with the stuff to make smores. They wanted one box of cinnamon gram crackers and one without, Jumbo size bag of marshmallows, and two bags of Hersey's chocolate, "Are we going to sing Kumbiyah as well?" Roxas asked Hayner, who went with Roxas to show him where the store was. 

"Only if you ask really nicely." Hayner said back with a chuckle. 

"I rather sing nothing." Replied back. 

"How about 'I'm a Barbie girl'?" Hayner suggested jokingly, adding after, "I know how much you love that song." 

"Bite me Hayner" Roxas said annoyingly.

As Roxas and Hayner walked to the store everyone except for Riku and Naminè got on a small yacht that was rented to them by Riku's father. Because they were still young to drive the boat Riku's dad decided to have one of his own employees drive them to the island. This made the group feel like those rich people they see on TV and Selphie had no problem playing the part, "You, young sir, I'm am terrible parched, do you mind fetching me a coke?" she said in a fake accent. The girls chuckled as Pence got up and got Selphie her pop. 

"You sure are comfortable on a yacht that you don't own." Olette said. 

"Way to ruin my moment Olette." Selphie said putting on a fake scowl on her face before drinking her pop and giggles. 

"Only you can have this much fun on a yacht Selphie." Kairi said with an amused smile on her face. 

"Can you blame me?" Selphie asked, "We've been using row boats, and small motor boats. This is the first time Riku's dad allowed us to use a yacht!" Kairi couldn't help but laugh. It was true though getting to the island before was less luxurious then it was at the moment. It was a good thing they had a friend who's parent owned a boat shop. Selphie continued her rich lady act while Kairi turned her gaze towards the small island which grew bigger the closer they got. Memories and flash backs of her time with Sora at the island came rushing into her mind which in turn made her regret come along to the island. Her hands turned into tight fists as she tried her best not to lose her composure in front of her friends. 

"Kairi?" Olette suddenly said getting her attention. Kairi could see the worried expression on Olette's face,

"Are you ok? You look kinda…" 

"Don't worry about me." Kairi said with a smile on her face, "Remember I promise, today will be a 'no buts and be happy' day." Olette smiled and nodded at Kairi. Even though she promised she couldn't help but feel a little sad. This island was going to be full of memories of Sora, could she really keep her promise?

"I'm a Barbie girl! In a Barbie world! Life in plastic, it's fantastic!" Hayner sang which annoyed Roxas who walked beside him. 

"I don't know what's more disturbing." Roxas said rubbing his head, "The fact that that song exists, or that you know the words to that song." 

"Stop trying to act like you don't like the song." Hayner said before he started humming the song. Roxas knew the only reason Hayner was humming that song was because he knew Roxas hated the song, "By the way." Hayner suddenly said as he stopped humming the atrocity of a song, "How come you never told us you met Kairi?" Roxas looked at Hayner for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders. 

"You guys never asked." Roxas simply said. 

"Don't give me that bull." Hayner said knowing Roxas was just trying to weasel his way out of the question. Roxas thought for a moment, he didn't think it was that big of a deal. So some girl gave him directions to the park, was that such a big deal? Then again he didn't know that girl was a friend of theirs. 

"She just gave me directions." Roxas simply said, "It's not like we exchanged phone numbers or anything like that." 

"You don't understand Roxas." Hayner suddenly said, "Kairi isn't one to just walk up to a random guy and…" Hayner quickly stopped and looked ahead obviously hiding something from Roxas. 

"And?" Roxas said waiting for Hayner to continue. 

"I lost my train of thought." Hayner quickly said after a moment of silence. As if he was trying to drop the subject as quick as he was able. 

"Bull." Roxas said and waited for Hayner to continue, which he didn't. It must have been one of those things that everyone knows except the new guy. He sighed and decided to ignore it, he was planning on sticking around and he was sure someone will tell him. 

When they reached the boat house, they were greeted by Riku and Naminè before departing. As they traveled towards the island Riku begins telling Roxas about the tradition behind the island. It was every two weeks, during the warm weather; the group would come to the island and spend time together by either swimming or sitting around a camp fire.

At first Roxas was a little confused, if they wanted to swim why not just go to the beach? Then again swimming on your own island would be pretty cool. In short the island was an escape the group could go to leave the noisy city behind them while they enjoyed each other's company, and thanks to Riku's dad's boat rental shop, getting to and from the island is easy. The moment Riku was done with his history lesson Roxas noticed a small Island.

The closer they got the bigger it seemed to get. When they said an island he didn't think it was going to be that big. When they got closer objects and structures could be seen. He could see a small bridge that connected the larger island to a smaller one surrounded by coconut trees, and one tree completely bent to the side sticking a little ways off the mini island, near the bridge was a small shack like building which was probably used for when it rained, there was a dock which the boat slowly guided into before allowing the four passengers to get off. 

Roxas was speechless, but his expression said it all. It probably looked a little funny to the others since they've been on the island so many times but this was Roxas' first time on any sort of island, "Welcome to our getaway." Riku suddenly said as he walks past him, Naminè in hand, "Be sure to enjoy yourself Roxy." Roxas was still a little amazed about having a getaway island that he didn't hear Riku call him Roxy. 

"But before you do." Hayner said as he hands Roxas two bags full of smore ingredients, "puts these in that shake over there." Roxas blinked and looked at the bags before looking at Hayner but before he could complain Hayner was already jumping into the water joining Tidus, Selphie, and Olette in a game of water volley ball. Roxas sighed and walked off the dock and onto the sandy beach heading towards the Shake. As he looked around he saw Wakka, Riku, and Naminè dressing down into their shorts and jumped right into the glimmering water. 

However it seemed someone was missing. Roxas took a look around seeing if he could find her but from where he was there was no sign of her, maybe she went home? The others didn't seem worried about her so maybe it wasn't a big deal. Pushing the thought from his head he approached the shake and dropped off the ingredients before joining the rest of them in the water. 

The cave was dark; it's always dark at the entrance of the cave which is probably why it was hard to see from the outside. However, once she reached the open area of the cave, natural light would shine down from the open ceiling making it easier to see. She looked around, the walls where cluttered with drawings made with white chalk. Each picture was drawn by different people but of course the best picture was drawn by Naminè, claiming its own wall. The picture was of the island which a sitting sun behind it, of course no one would know that since it was down in white chalk. 

Kairi took a step inside the cave and lightly dragged her fingers across some of the drawings. Flashbacks of when she was a child ran through her mind. Drawing, laughing, smiling with friends, however each flashback had one thing in common… 

She suddenly stopped, she reached another lone picture, "and it's you…" she said to herself. The picture was the head of Kairi and Sora facing each other while holding a fruit. She remembered drawing the heads first but later Sora would draw him handing her a fruit, and when she saw this she drew her handing him one as well. When everyone saw this they assumed they would start dating. Sadly it never happened and this drawing remained just another forgotten form of chalk on the wall. 

Kairi slowly traced her hand over Sora's head and stared at it. She told herself she wouldn't cry today just for her friends, but seeing this made it harder to keep such a promise. Kairi collapsed to her knees and hung her head as she began to sob, her hand never leaving the drawing of Sora. 

Kairi silently exited the secrete cave and washed her face on a nearby spring. She could hear the sound of her friends laughing and splashing in the ocean water. Kairi silently stared at the spring for a moment as if emotionally preparing herself before standing up and walked towards the beach to join her friends. The moment her feet touched the sand she heard someone call her name, "there you are!" it was Olette, "Come on in the waters great!" 

Kairi smiled and began to dress down to her bathing suit but stopped when she saw Roxas. She froze and her cheeks turned slightly red. She felt a little embarrassed to be seen in her bathing suit. The other guys have seen it all the time so it was not a big deal but she didn't know Roxas too well but he has seen other girls in bathing suits right? So what's t he deal? However thinking back she acted the same way when she first met Sora, and Roxas did look like Sora, could that be the reason? Kairi shook her head and silently laughed at herself before she dressed down into her bathing suit joining her friends in the glimmering ocean water.

The group stayed in the water until the sun started setting beyond the horizon, making the hot air, cool along with the water. The group got out and got towels from the shack before setting a camp fire. They grabbed a large bowl to act like a fire pit, then some fire wood they chopped up themselves. Once the fire was set the group took their seats around the fire to get warm and to make smores. As his marshmallow burned Roxas took a look around the fire and where everyone was sitting.

Riku and Naminè sat side by side with Riku's arm around her shoulders. Wakka and Tidus sat together debating amongst themselves who the greatest soccer player was. Hayner and Olette sat rather close for being just friends, something was up and Hayner has some explain to do. Selphie and pence held a conversation on their own before being joined by Riku and Naminè. However it seemed the red head was missing…again. 

"Where's Kairi?" Roxas suddenly asked to no one in particular. Everyone stared at Roxas for a moment before looking at each other. He looked around he noticed everyone seemed nervous to answer that question. 

"She said she had to make a phone call." Selphie answered as she stared at the fire. Having his question answered Roxas returned his gaze back to his S'more. It bugged him, Kairi was part of this group right? So then why did she distance herself from them? Trying to ignore the question Roxas made himself a S'more and was about to take a bite when suddenly he stopped. Roxas stood up catching everyone's attention while doing so. 

"What are you doing Roxas?" Hayner asked. 

"We're almost done with the smores." He answered adding after words, "it would be kind of cruel not to save her at least one right?" with that said Roxas as walked past them, "So I'm going to go give her one."

Kairi sat alone, looking at the stars as the sound of the crashing waves attempted to mend her breaking heart. She remembered when….she quickly shook her head she didn't want to remember anything anymore. All it did was made things that much worse when she remembered the time with him. The mere mention of his name made her heart heavy. She grabbed a handful of her hear and tried to resist crying but it seemed futile. She was going to lose control of her emotions. 

"Umm Kairi?" A suddenly voice said from behind her. She was surprised by the sudden voice that and quickly wiped the tears that managed to escape. 

"What?" she answered as she avoided eye contact with the person behind her. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, especially Roxas. 

"I have something for you." He said as he slowly approached her, "I um, thought maybe you would like a smore?" he offered her the smore and waited for her to take it. 

"Thank you." She said as she reached to grab it, her gaze never turned to face him. Once she had the smore in hand all she did was stare t it. 

Roxas stood and watched her for moment. He didn't know if there was a right away about asking her the questions he had, or if he should go on and just ask them. Then another thing came to mind, he didn't know her that long so did he actually have the right to ask her? Sensing he was still there Kairi suddenly asked, "Is there something else?" 

"Yeah." Roxas answered without really thinking, 'Um, the others wanted to know if when you're going to join them." 

"Later…right now I want to be alone." She simply answered. Roxas rubbed the back of his neck still debating if he should ask her. 

"Alright." Roxas said as he took a step back, "we'll see you later then." He turned away and tried to walk back but he quickly stopped and turned to face Kairi once more, "why, exactly do you want to be alone?" he suddenly asked. 

"I just do." She answered. 

"Wouldn't it be better not to be alone?" 

"Roxas…" 

"I mean you're friends are worried about you, shouldn't you…" 

"If they were so worried about me wouldn't they have come here themselves!" she yelled catching Roxas off guard, "They didn't come because I said I wanted to be alone, so leave me the hell alone!" Roxas stood still wide eyed. If he didn't know any better he would have thought this red head and the red head me met on his first day were different people. 

"Alright." He said giving up, "I'll just tell them you're busy." He said before turning around and walked towards the others leaving Kairi alone just in time for her to lose her battle against her emotions. 

The rest of the trip was awkward for Roxas and Kairi. When she rejoined the group she avoided eye contact with him and since the only spot where she could sit was next to Roxas it made things that more awkward. She joined in some conversation but not very long. It seemed all she wanted to do now was just be alone just like she did on the beach on the other side of the island. 

Time came and the yacht that brought them to island came to take them back to the main land. The group quickly took out the fire and pact all the things before climbing on board. The group sat together and continued talking all except for Roxas and Kairi. Once docked Roxas quickly got out and said his good byes before taking off. The guys found it weird that Roxas took off so sudden while Kairi watched the blond leave. 

She felt a sudden guilt. Was it right for her to suddenly snap at someone who just wanted to help? But she did say she wanted to be alone. She sighed and got off the boat and started walking home after what happened tonight she just wanted to go home.

"You ok Kairi?" Riku asked, Kairi looked at Riku and put on the best smile she could but it was obvious she wasn't. 

"I'm fine…I'm just tired." She lied. 

"Do you need me and Naminè to walk you home?" 

"I'm fine Riku, Honest." She said before turning around and walking away, "I'll see you tomorrow Naminè!" she said waving. Naminè waved back but shared the same worried expression as Riku. 

"Riku…" she started but was cut off by Riku shaking his head. 

"Nothing we can do about it babe." He said as he sighed, "She's stubborn." He said. The group watched as Kairi walked away. Each of them wanted to do something to try and cheer her up. They wanted the old Kairi back, the Kairi that would only cry from laughing so hard. However as they saw this version of Kairi day in and day out, they knew… 

_Something had to change._


	4. What a month

Damn! it's been a while since I've uploaded a story...a long while and because of this I decided to just upload the story I've been trying to write (even though it's only a four page story but oh wells...) this one is going to be short just so I can get back into the groove of writing these stories again and while doing so maybe write some more projects.

ON OTHER NEWS!

I'm still looking for Beta Readers, I've tried contacting some of the B.R on this site but I don't get any messages back so I'm assuming they are busy with other projects or something. do if there is any new or old readers that are willing to help me hit me up? Other than that thanks for the reviews and ENJOY!

~R~

Roxas woke up an hour before his alarm rang, the red bold numbers stating it was now seven o'clock. Roxas stayed in bed and stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours but when he looked back at the clock it was only 7:02. He sighed and turned away closing his eyes and attempted to fall back asleep, which failed. Annoyed, Roxas pulled the pillow from under his head and pushed it against his face and groaned, "It's WAY too early!" he said with his muffled voice thanks to the pillow, "Why can't I sleep?"

He remained quiet for a moment before taking the pillow off his face and looked at the dim light that seeped through his window and into his room. _Why can't I go to sleep? _Roxas thought. The answer was simple. It had to do with a certain red head.

The last couple of weeks have been awkward for Roxas, especially when it came to Kairi. He wasn't mad at her for yelling at him at the island he just wanted to give her space, something that was hard to do when they are friends with the same people.

Selphie always kept him up to date on kairi for whatever reason while Riku took it upon himself to keep the awkwardness between them at a minimal state which failed more often than not. Roxas could recall a time one of Riku's 'attempts' failed. He received a text from Riku to meet them at a place called The Burger Joint. Little did Roxas know Selphie and Kairi had the same idea. When Roxas arrived he saw the two girls sitting across from Riku. While Selphie and Riku tried to keep some sort of conversation going Roxas and Kairi sat still quiet. It lasted until Kairi couldn't take it anymore and left making up an excuse to leave.

He wasn't sure what her deal was but he couldn't ask her. He wasn't nervous to ask her, it was more like he didn't feel right asking her about her personal life when he met her only weeks ago and when he asked anyone else they would answer with "it's complicated." Or "Don't worry about it."

"My ass." Roxas said, his voice fading into the still air of his room. If he was going to figure this out he was going to have to do it himself…but. The sudden determination he felt to solve the mystery of Kairi's depression soon faded as the image of her angry, sad, crying face twisting into one appeared into his head and all he could do was feel sorry for her. Her friends tried helping her so what could he do? A boy who she just meet three weeks ago compared to people she knew all her life?

_If they were so worried about me wouldn't they have came here themselves!_

Her voice echoed in his mind. It was weird how much she has changed when he first met her. He thought she was the type of girl with the biggest smile on her face, loud with her friends, and caring. He wasn't expecting her to be depressed and forcing herself away from those who cared about her.

_They didn't come because I told them I wanted to be alone! So leave me the hell alone!_

"Girls." He said before he closed his eyes, "What mysterious creatures." He said repeating a quote one of his friends said back at Twilight Town. Somehow, the situation just called for it.

It was already six in the morning and Roxas couldn't sleep. If he fell to sleep now he'll just wake up late. Seeing as the daily soccer game was in one hour Roxas decided to get an early start Roxas got out of bed and dressed in his soccer gear for a little pre-game jog.

The moment Roxas stepped outside a cool, gentle wind caressed his face. Roxas inhaled deeply the cool breeze and slowly exhaled. A fog of his breath could be seen escaping his lips. The sky was still dark but further off in the distance he could see signs of an impending dawn. Roxas kept his eyes on the faint light while he stretched his legs before he started his jog towards the soccer field.

Music from his headphones kept his mind on the jog. He concentrated on his breathing and kept the same moderate pace through the jog. it didn't take Roxas long to reach the soccer field. He stopped near a picnic table on the side lines to catch his breath. It wasn't surprising to him that no one was on the field since it was still early. Roxas felt his breath return to normal and began his jog around the soccer field.

Roxas was on the third lap when he noticed a group of three people standing near a bench where Roxas was. The three looked to be around his age but he didn't recognize him. He wondered if those three were friends of Riku that he hasn't met yet. Roxas would soon find out as he approached them to finish his lap. The three stood in front of him in a line staring at him as Roxas slowed his pace to a complete stop while taking out his earphones.

They stood in silence for what seemed like forever before Roxas spoke, "What's up?"

"Haven't seen you around here y'know." A male spoke while he crossed his arms across his chest. He has tan skin and short black hair with long sideburns. For his age he is tall and very muscular. His clothes consist of an orange tank top and baggy dark sweatpants over wide shoes, giving him the look of a sports player. The number 8 on his sweats seemed to back up that fact.

"New." The only female spoke as she pointed to Roxas. She wears a blue sleeveless jacket and Capri pants. Her pants have irregularly placed pockets one on her right thigh and one on her lower left leg. Her hair is roughly jaw-length and light steel blue, while her eyes appear to be red or reddish brown and wears an eye patch over her left eye. Roxas wasn't sure if the eye patch is just for show or if she really needs it.

"I'm not a fan of new faces." The male other male said, "So why don't you introduce yourself." This guy was full of himself. He wears a blue crop-top vest with white lining underneath a floor-length white jacket. He has baggy, aubergine colored pants, with the legs tucked into black combat boots with light blue laces. Seifer's eyes are blue-green and his hair, partially visible under his hat, is blond.

Roxas was already feeling negative feelings towards this guy, "Aren't you suppose to introduce yourself first before asking for someone's name?"

"Identify." The silver haired girl demanded which surprised Roxas.

"Roxas." He introduced hoping he wasn't going to regret his decision to give out his name.

"Roxas." The girl repeated.

"Haven't seen you around these parts ya know." The darker male said as he rubbed the back of his head. Roxas shrugged his shoulders.

"I've been here for almost a month." Roxas said before adding, "and this is the first time I've ever seen you three." He paused for a moment before asking, "who are you guys?" the dark skin male suddenly smirked and pointed at himself.

"I'm Raijin ya know!" he introduced sounding so proud of his name, "the scary looking girl over there is Fujin." He suddenly put his arms around the blonds shoulder, "And this bad boy is…Yeow!"

"SILENCE!" Fujin yelled after kicking Raijin's leg. She shook his head and muttered, "Idiot."

"I'm Seifer." The blond suddenly said finishing the introductions, "I would say 'it's a pleasure' but I'd be lying." He said with a smirk.

"Likewise." Roxas responded.

"RESEPECT!" Fujin sudden yelled as she jabbed her finger against Roxas' chest.

"Yeah! You don't want to get on Seifer's bad side ya know." Raijin added, although not as aggressive as Fujin. Roxas looked past the two and saw Seifer still standing with his arms crossed on his chest and a smirk on his face..

"Whatever." Roxas said before grabbing his earphones and puts one in his ear, "If you excuse me, I got laps to run." However, before he could start his job Seifer stepped in his way stopping Roxas in his tracks.

"I didn't excuse you yet." Seifer said.

"I don't believe I need your permission to do anything." Roxas responded back staring back at Seifer.

"If you don't want any problems, then I suggest you do as I say" Seifer threaten.

"and if I don't?"

"Then we WILL have a problem." Seifer said smirking. Roxas smirked as well.

"Sounds like we have a problem then." Roxas said.

Fujin and Raijin watched as the two males locked glairs at each other. Sensing this encounter was going to turn violent Raijin and Fujin nodded at each other and was going to join Seifer, however Seifer stopped them by raising his hand. The two stopped and kept their gaze on the two males and wondered what was going to happen. Seifer suddenly laughed which caught Roxas, along with Raijin and Fujin off guard.

"I like you." Seifer said as he pats Roxas' shoulder, "you got guts, I can respect that." Seifer added with a smirk. Seifer looks past Roxas and towards his two friends and tilts his head to the side signaling them to leave. Fujin nodded and walked off with Raijin close behind. Seifer faced his two friends and took a couple steps towards them before turning to face Roxas, "Let me give you a warning." Seifer suddenly said, "I like you, so don't give me a reason not to." With that said Seifer walked off followed by Fujin and Raijin.

Roxas watched as the group walked off. Something told him this wasn't going to be the last time he was going to see Seifer. Roxas sighed and rubbed his head. In his first month here, he managed to get friends, have the red head female hate his guts and now he has someone who most likely wants any excuse to fight him. Roxas sighed and shook his head watching as the three walked away the only thing he could think was...

_What a Month..._

(As I said before it's short but only because I'm trying to get back into the groove of writing again. tell me what you think and the position for B.R is still open. Thank you for reading and I'll make the next chapter longer...Later.)


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